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W'. HORNIGH.

- y BUTTON MAKING MAGHINB.v

No. 340,442.' Patented Apr. 20, 1886.

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W. HORNIGH.

BUTTON MAKING l1\[AGHI1\TE No. 340,442. Patented Apr. 2o, 1886.

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Patented Apr. 20, 1886.

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W. HORNICH.

BUTTON MAKING MACHINE.

N. PETERS. PhalLlhogmpher. Wmhinginn. I)4 CA (No Model.)

IT SSES NITED STATES PATENT ERICE.

wILLIAM HoRNIcH, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR To THALHEIMER BROTHERS, or SAME PLAGE.

BUTTON-MAKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,442, dated April I 1886.

Application filed December 4, 1885. Serial No. l84,690.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HoRNIcH, a citizen of the United lStates, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Making Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The invention herein described and claimed relates to improvements in dies employed especially in making cloth-covered buttons, in which two operations are necessary to form the completed button, one in which the metallic face and the cloth covering are brought together, and the other operation closing vthe covered face upon the back.

The invention has reference specially to an improved and automatically-acting device for holding the lower die immovable while the iii-st operation is done.

The objects of the invention are to secure a positively-acting device by means of which a more perfect and uniform button is pro duced; to allow the hands of the operator to be unoccupied,except in adjusting the shells, cloth, Ste., in the dies, her whole attention being given to that alone, and in consequence of which a much larger quantity of buttons are produced than are secured b v the old mechanism; to enable a less skilled and cheaper class of operatives to be employed, and to enable the operator to bring more powerto bear in stamping up the buttons.

The invention consists in the combination, with button-forming dies in which it is necessary to hold portions of' the dies immovable during one operation and to release the same during another operation, of an automaticallyacting device that will engage with said dies, or a portion thereof,during the one operation and withdraw therefrom during the other of said operations. v

Dies acting as above described are illustrated in the drawings, and one form of the (No model.)

automatic holding device is also shown there- 1n.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side eleva tion of a button-forming machine to which my improvement is attached. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is a similar View of a portion of the machine, showing another operation thereof and of the automatic device. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the automatic holding mechanism, taken longitudinally therethrough. Fig. 4 is a plan ofthe said holding mechanism, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the slotted side. On Sheet 3, Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the niaehine shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the relation of the several parts thereof during the rst operation. Fig. 7 is a similar view illustrating the relation of the parts in the second operation, which iS shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a plan of the cloth blank that forms the face-covering. Fig. 9is an elevation of the metallic face. Fig. 10 is a section of the united blank and face. Fig. 11 is an elevation ofthe button-back. Fig. 12 is a plan of the additional die or tool used in the second operation. Fig; 13 iS an elevation of the stamping-bar in said die, and Fig. 14 is a vertical section ot' the additional die and its inclosed stamping-bar.

Similar reference letters indicate correspending parts in each of the abovedescribed figures, which are embodied in three sheets of drawings.

In the drawings, A indicates the upper die, B the lower die-G the frame of the machine, D t-he die-bed, and E the frame-bed.

The upper die, A, consists of a collar, a, a stamping-bar, c', and a spring, c2, held between the collar and a nut, c, the bar amoving vertically through the collar down into the lower v*die during the first operation of bringing the face-Shell and cloth covering together. The lower die, B, consists of a collar, b, moving on and around the lower stampingbar, b, and a spring, b2.

In the irst operation the cloth covering is laid in the lower die, and the shell is inserted in the upper die on the end of the bar a', and as the dies iinpinge the collar la strikes the collar b of the lower die, and, both remaining stationaryv by means of the holding device, the

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bar a descends still farther into the collar 0 and forces the shell and cloth down upon the lower stampingbar, b', as in Fig. 6. To hold the collars immovable and permit the stamping-bar to descend still farther is the office of the holding mechanism, which actsautomatically as the upper die descends and engages with the lower die or the collar b thereon, as indicated in Fig. l.

In the second operat'on, in which the completed button is made, the lower collar is necessarily free, so as to be depressed, to allow which the holding mechanism disengages itself from said collar automatically, as indicated in Fig. 2.

In forming the completed button the back is laid in the lower die, and an additional tool or die, F, is placed thereon, within which die Fis a vertically-moving stamping-bar, f, (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 ,and also in Figs. 7, 12, 13, and 14,) upon which the bar a descends, and, forcing the collar b down upon the stampingbar b', the parts of the button are united, as indicated in Fig. 7.

The construction, arrangement, and particularly the operation of the button-forming mechanism, are thus briefly described to show the relation ofthe holding mechanism, which constitutes the prime feature of the invention.

The holding device illustrated in the drawings, and selected to indicate one of the forms of mechanism that may heV devised toract automatically, consists of a reciprocating slide, G, moving in a suitably-constructed bed, g, and a spring, g,whicl1 engages the end ofsaid slide, and acts to force the slide from holdingcontact with the lower die, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In the slide is formed a slot, g2, the for-wa rd end of which nearest the dies is rounded or inclined, as Fig. 3 sets i'orth.

.The device for causing the slide to engage with the lower die consists of a rod, H, the lower end of which is formedto enter the slot in the slide, and, coming in contact with the rounded or inclined end of said slot,forces the slide toward the dies. The rod H is secured at its upper end to an arm, h, projecting from the slide J, moving vertically in the frame of the machine, and is of such length that at the proper time, when the upper die descends, the said rod will force or push the slide under the shoulder b3 of the collar b and prevent the depression ofthe same during the first operation of uniting the facesliell and cloth covering of the button.

When the tool F is inserted between the dies,the extra length prevents the rod H from entering the slotted slide, and in consequence the collar b is free to move, as hereinbefore described, under the downward pressure of the upper die. The relation of the parts and position of the rod during this operation are indicated in Fig. 2.

Heretofore a springaetuated le ver has been employed to engage with the movable collar on the lower die during the lirst operation of uniting theface-shelland covering; but during the second operation of uniting the face and back, in which the lower movable collar is depressed, the spring-lever in use must be held away from the lower die by the hand, leaving but one hand free to insert the backs, and hindering the movements of operator in working the foot-lever.

In my improved device the holding mechanism is placed back of the dies and out of the way of the operator, and is entirely automatic in its action, enabling the operator to give her whole attention to placing the shells, cloth covering, Ste., in the dies, and her full power in working the foot-lever that operates the machine, thereby more lirml y uniting the parts of the button together.

To operate the old lever quickly and place the parts of the buttons in the dies properly requires considerable training and more than ordinary skill. By the improved construction of the holding mechanism no previous training is necessary to operate the dies, and a much greater quantity of buttons are produced by cheaper and less skilled hands in a given time.y

Having thus described my invention, I de sire to claim the following:

1. In a button-forming machine, the combination, with the lower die, having a movable collar thereon, and the upper die, provided with a spring-actuated collar, and a stamping bar or die working through said spring-actuated collar, of mechanism constructed and adapted to engage automatically with and hold the said movable collar on the lower die immovable when the upper die is depressed and the said stamping-bar is forced downward through the spring-actuated collar into the lower movable collar, for the purposes set forth.

2. In a button-forming machine, the combination, with the lower die, having a movable collar thereon, and the upper die, provided with a spring-actuated collar, and a stamping bar or die working through said spring actuated collar, of a reciprocating slide,and mechanism for causing said slide to engage with the said movable collar on the lower die and hold the same immovable when the dies impinge, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

3. In a button-forming machine, the combination, with the lower die,having a m0v able collar thereon, and the upper die, provided with a spring-actuated collar, and a stamping bar or die working through said collar, of mechanism for holding the collar on the lower die immovable when the dies impinge, consisting of a reciprocating slide l1aving a slot therein, the end of which nearest the dies is inclined or beveled, a rod connected and moving with the upper die and engaging with the beveled end of the slot in its downward movement, and a repressing-spring, all said parts being arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

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4. In ev buttonmaking machine, in combi a length as to prevent the rod connected with nation, an upper die consisting, essentially, of the upper die from engaging with the recipa stamping-bar, a springaotuated collar and rocating slide, for the purposes set forth.

a spring, a lower die consisting of a movable collar, a stamping-bar on which said collar 1 have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of moves, and a spring engaging with said co1- hir, a slotted reciprocating slide, a repressingspring engaging with said slide, a rod or arm connected and moving with the upper die, and a button-formiug tool adapted to be inserted between the upper and lower dies,and of such November, 1885.

WILLIAM HORNICH.

| Vitnesses:

i FREDK. F. CAMPBELL, D. A. TOLLEIN.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I i5v 

